A student from Birmingham is now among a group of five Britons shortlisted for a one-way trip to Mars.

Dr Maggie Lieu, 24, who has a PhD in Astrophysics at the University of Birmingham is among the group hoping to become the first humans to set foot on the Red Planet.

The UK candidates are among the final 100 hopefuls from across the globe for the Mars One Project which plans to set up a permanent human settlement on the planet by 2024.

More than 200,000 people applied for the controversial privately-funded mission that organisers have estimated will cost six billion dollars and is set to be filmed for a reality television series.

In total, 50 men and 50 women have been shortlisted from around the world, including 39 from the Americas, 31 from Europe, 16 from Asia, seven from Africa and seven from Oceania.

They were selected from a pool of 660 candidates after taking part in online interviews with the mission’s chief medical officer Norbert Kraft, where they were tested on their understanding of the risks involved, team spirit and motivation to be part of the expedition.

Dutch entrepreneur Bas Lansdorp, co-founder of Mars One, said: “The large cut in candidates is an important step towards finding out who has the right stuff to go to Mars. These aspiring martians provide the world with a glimpse into who the modern day explorers will be.”

Candidates that were not selected will have a chance to re-apply in a new application round that will open in 2015.